


Rise & Fall

by deluxekyluxtrashcan (rhoen)



Series: Twelve Days of Kylux [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dom/sub Undertones, Implied dom/sub, M/M, Switching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 11:11:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9069061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhoen/pseuds/deluxekyluxtrashcan
Summary: Hux falls apart after a relatively minor failure (compared to Starkiller Base’s destruction). Kylo, who Hux normally doms, takes care of him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The AU into which this very short snipped peers is one in which Hux is Kylo's dom (and takes very good care of him), but it turns out he needs a little love and support too. Honestly, he's probably surprised to realise he has emotional needs. Good job he has Kylo.
> 
> I apologise if I've not tagged for anything I should have. Please let me know if you spot anything!
> 
> I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that I skipped the smut, but I'm in a rush and all so I truly hope you'll forgive me if that's something you wanted to see.
> 
> And yes, I'm still adding this to everything I write, even though it's tiring and I wish I didn't have to, but now I feel like the day I don't say it is the day it will happen again: _Don't nick this. It's not cool._

It’s not supposed to be like this.

He doesn’t fail. He never fails.

Only, somehow he has, and now every whisper and shout of fear, doubt and insecurity is crashing against him, battering him. He feels overwhelmed, and as if he’s suffocating.

Hux enters his quarters blindly, too distracted by the static feedback of his mind to notice when the datapad he places on the table clatters to the ground. He can’t even remember how to unfasten his tunic, and thanks to muscle memory alone he finds himself in his bedroom, sinking down on the rigid mattress. The floor before him glitters and distorts as moisture wells in his eyes.

How did this happen?

It cuts deeper than wounded pride. Hux’s heart feels bruised, and his skin prickles with the chilling memory of being lonely and unloved; foolish and weak. The past twenty-seven years are stripped away in mere seconds, and he finds he cannot cope with his own failure. The mighty general, brought to his knees by his own idiocy.

Hux did everything he could, but no matter how much he tries to tell himself that, he cannot believe it. All he can focus on is the fact he failed. He tried so hard, and it was all for nought. All his plans, his faith and investment in his men and in his systems, have disintegrated before his very eyes, and there’s nothing left but ruin now. He will be held accountable for the loss.

Why Kylo comes to him, drifting into his quarters and settling at his side, Hux doesn’t know.

Normally their arrangement is very different: Kylo goes astray or finds himself lost, and Hux guides him back to the right path with a firm hand and carefully meted out praise. He teaches discipline and moderation in return for Kylo’s trust and obedience. He is always the unmoveable one, steadfast and sure, whereas Kylo is uncertain and tempestuous. He has never felt like this before – so vulnerable and afraid, and in need of something he can’t bring himself to name.

Normally Kylo is pliant beneath his touch, yielding and responsive to all the lessons Hux has to share. He comes to him to atone for wayward actions, safe in the knowledge that Hux is always firm but fair. He never comes because Hux is the one needing something in return. Hux never needs anything in return.

Normally Hux isn’t the one falling apart.

Kylo’s hand on his shoulder allows a warmth Hux can barely remember having felt before to seep into his icy skin. Long shunned memories of happiness and warmth shift and twist in the recesses of his mind, hurting him even more as he tries to deny that he still carries them. It doesn’t do to think of sentimental nonsense – of homes and families and love – when the galaxy needs what Hux has forced himself to become; what his father forced him to become. He needs to be strong, smart, impassive, just…

But he is weak and foolish. He turns to Kylo, clinging to him and burying his face against the coarse material of Kylo’s armour, inhaling the scent he’s come to think of as belonging to him. He’s so used to holding, rather than being held, that the shift is jarring. For a moment Hux fears that Kylo will expect him to submit in the way Kylo does to him, but then Kylo shifts, his arms coming up to embrace Hux firmly, and the fear is forgotten. Hux never holds Kylo like this. He keeps him at the distance Kylo needs to be; he keeps himself isolated and aloof.

But Kylo is none of those things. He’s right there, rocking gently and making soothing noises. Hux knows he should be humiliated, but as he curls up further against Kylo’s strong, broad chest, he knows he needs this.

“That’s it,” Kylo says gently, and at his words Hux realises he’s started sobbing. He tries to bury his face into Kylo’s chest to smother the sound, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Kylo’s gentleness only makes it worse, and Hux feels himself break apart even further, regressing to a point where he desperately needs comforting.

“I’m here, I’ve got you,” Kylo continues. His voice is so soft, so reassuring. How had Hux never noticed before? How had he never realised what it would be like to be held in these strong arms and cradled, being looked after in the way he finds he suddenly needs – has always needed?

Kylo keeps talking. Hux’s fingers clutch tightly at his robes, his throat becoming raw.

“You did your best. I’m so proud of you.”

The praise he’d always wanted, but his father had never given. Hux cries even harder.

“You did everything right. There was so much to organise and to put together. No one else would have made it this far.”

Kylo is now stroking his hair, and the action is so comforting Hux takes a shuddering gasp, trying to calm himself and let Kylo’s words in.

“No one else would have even thought of doing it. You’re so smart – you know that?”

A chaste kiss is pressed to his hairline, and Hux screws his eyes shut, overwhelmed by what Kylo is giving him.

“Sometimes things don’t work out,” Kylo continues, his words soft and carefully spoken. He strokes Hux’s hair again, and the gesture feels both loving and reassuring. It helps ease the pain of reality. “You can’t always control it.”

The idea of being unable to control things, and at the mercy of fate, unsettles Hux. He pushes against Kylo, begging it not to be true.

“But I’ll always be here.”

It’s a promise, and one Hux is desperate to believe. He whimpers as Kylo strokes his hair again.

“For you, my General.”

The title somehow lends Hux strength while at the same time relieves him of all responsibility. Kylo speaks it with such care and reverence, as if it – and Hux – are fragile things to be treasured and kept safe at all costs. It’s okay, in this moment, to be weak, and to be everything Hux needs to be, because Kylo is here for him. Kylo will always be here.

His mother once made a similar promise. She’s nothing but stardust now, and her words long gone, but Hux still craves that childish reassurance. The rational, sensible part of his mind knows that it’s a weak and foolish thing to want, but he also knows that if Kylo Ren can’t keep his promise, no one can. And it is a promise. Hux can feel it. It surrounds him and flows through him, making his heart beat as one with Kylo’s.

Kylo won’t leave him.

And that’s all he needs to know.

**Author's Note:**

> Later, lying with his limbs still entwined with Kylo’s and a warm afterglow thrumming through his body, Hux feels more himself than he ever did – which is irrational, really, as he feels shaken and confused. He’s not sure how this works. He’s never made love to anyone before, but he’s absolutely certain that’s what just happened. Kylo is smiling tiredly but happily, his fingers tracing idly over Hux’s skin, and he clearly feels this too, whatever it is.
> 
> ... I had to stop there! I'm sorry I didn't have time for more! Anyway, it's a thing they work out pretty quickly and easily. Yay for switching! And with the support of each other... well, imagine what they could achieve...


End file.
